Hype is a tough thing to manage when writing about a player, if you indugle in it - no matter how deserved - legions of people will come out crying about how you've been brainwashed by the press. That 17 year old Pato is far from the level of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yes, I think we get that. He's had now about a match and a half of professional football under his belt, most of which was in a tournament that arguably meant more to Internacional than any in their history (the Club World Cup is big in South America, you see). And if you compare him to other 17 year olds with similar match experience, he looks quite good. So forgive me if I'm not dragging his name through the dirt for misplacing a couple of passes, or saying his career is over just because he fell over the ball once or twice.

He's 17, and playing in his 3rd professional match ever and its the final of a major tournament against Barcelona. I think we can cut him some slack.

When talking about potential, you have to focus on the positives and assume the rest can be coached. And Pato again demonstrated his physical ability, strength and pace in abundance although his tendency to cramp up was worrying. Hopefully it's not indicative of career-stalling growing pains. He got on the ball infrequently, but on one occasion danced easily around the Barcelona defense, and another picked up the ball and turned so swiftly and acutely that it left Carlos Puyol on the floor. If Gio hadn't brought him down from behind the lad would have been away on goal, possibly about to write his name into history.

He was eventually subbed off, his impact on the game matched his current status - filled with potential but not yet the end product.

It deafens me, but it sends a chill down my spine. If you've ever played the Japanese language version of Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer on the Playstation, this is pretty much a real life version of that complete with random, techno background music at inappropriate times.

With only a few minutes until kick off, here's a run down of the pre-match entertainment for this glorious final:

- Bewildering pre-match entertainment featuring giant inflatable globes and some kind of Japanese samba band who try but fail to get the crowd excited
- Announcer screaming excited Japanese at the top of his lungs, I have no idea what he is saying but it works. I'm both deaf and incredibly excited.
- For some reason we're asked to stand for the FIFA national anthem, which no one knew existed, which is then cut short awkwardly halfway through leaving everyone confused.

The pain is over, time to watch Barcelona thump someone.

The final is just half an hour away, and most a predicting a relatively easy task for Barcelona. Internacional will have to improve greatly on their previous performance and Barcelona will have to decline greatly from theirs if this is to be anything but a walk in the park.

But as usual I'm far more interested in how wunderkind Pato Alexandre is going to fair. He showed glimpses of his talent against Al Ahly but he failed to get on the ball as much as he really should have to do real damage. He showed intelligence in his running but was rarely picked up, and it'll be pretty important that this changes if the Brazilians have a hope. It's unlikely that Pato will find much joy against Marquez and Puyol, as it means that Inter have found their way through the centre of the park, so he's got to exploit the full backs. Both Gio and Zambrotta push up frequently and Pato has to slide into the gap and hope for a counter attack opportunity.

If Inter can defend well enough and get the ball to him quickly on the wings in the first 15-20 minutes, they've got a hope. If not, then Barca will adjust and probably thump them.

With just over 90 minutes of professional football under his belt, Alexandre is now expected to turn on the magic against the best team in Europe - you couldn't write a better story.

Watching Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright Philips, or Theo Walcott on the ball is one of the more exciting things in the Premiership. Speedy players who leave defenders in their wake is always good entertainment. But as I'm watching Barcelona midget Ludovic Giuly take on Club America in the FIFA WCC, it's clear that the English youngsters have some way to go to match the Frenchmans effectiveness. While they look to get on the ball as often as possible to do their damage, Giuly's runs off the ball are perfectly timed and perfectly angled, allowing for midfielders to play the 'Arsenal ball' between the full back and centre back time and time again.

Barcelona look for him in this way time and time again and it's just another example of the simple things in football that help win matches, Giuly's little buddies in the Premiership would do well to learn to do the same.

Barcelona are in town and the everyone is giggling like school girls. The train ride over was buzzing, filled with Barca-clad Japanese youngsters while even the Yokohama station was filled with police screaming instructions on how to get to the stadium through megaphones. It was quite clear that Auckland FC were not playing Al Ahly this evening.

The walk to the stadium was equally inspiring, legions of fans making their way up to the bridge towards Yokohama stadium - which was every bit as impressive as you'd expect from the Japanese. Carefully positioned lights and a location amongst smaller residential buildings made you feel like you were heading towards some sort of football church, and the dozens of Ronaldinho '10' shirts identified the Brazilian as our saviour.

Alright, that got a bit cliched. But it really has been very exciting, compared to Tokyo's Olympic stadium and even the equally new Toyota City stadium this was something else. We quickly popped over to the press section to check out our seats and view, and the inside of the ground easily delivered on the anticipation created by the journey here. The press area was state of the art, and the rows of seats engulf the pristine grass. Even theworking room was impressive, the energy feels like we're here for a massive event.

We're going to just work from our press desks, it's too incredible out there not to, so expect plenty more excited, immature rantings momentarily.

I won't lie, upon arriving at the FIFA Club World Cup here in Tokyo my head was immediately filled with delusions of grandeur. I dreamt of sitting down across from Ronaldinho, one on one, asking the tough questions that only his mother would dare pose Then, after the interview, defeating the Brazilian in some kind of one-on-one juggling competition.

I mentioned these were delusions, right?

But it's proving a pretty difficult task. One problem is that Barcelona are stationed in Yokohama while we are in Tokyo, putting a rather large dent in my chances of running into him at a local noodle shop. Second, is that my only remaining chance is to go through official channels and speak to the club's press officer. Given that Ronaldinho is the primary reason why most of the press are even here, this is a rather daunting task especially as 'blogger' probably is not high on the list of priority interviews. So it does seem that my hopes of giving the Ronaldinho handsign in some kind of life-altering photo op will go unfulfilled.

However, there is...one...remaining option. But I'm sure you'll understand when I say it's a last resort.